There is a very small book written by a Mennonite
minister, Howard Zehr,
entitled The Little Book of
Restorative Justice (The Little
Books of Justice &
Peacebuilding) . It covers the fundamentals of an
approach to justice that involves everyone affected,
including the community.
Current Western legal approaches
exclude the victim and the community. Crime is
dealt with as
an offense against the government only. Some of the ideas of
Restorative Justice are based in Christianity. Some come
from American Indian,
First Nation and aboriginal cultures.
I have found it very useful and
enlightening. It is well
worth the time to look at it, and it only costs
$4.95, a
price that hardly makes it worthwhile to buy
used.
How should we as a society respond to
wrongdoing? When a
crime occurs or an injustice is done,
what needs to happen? What does justice
require?
For North Americans, the urgency of these questions has been
intensified by the traumatic events of September 11, 2001.
The debate is an
old one, though, and is truly international
in scope.
Whether we are
concerned with crime or other offenses, the
Western legal system has profoundly
shaped our thinking
about these issues—not only in the Western world, but in
much of the rest of the world as well.
The Western legal, or criminal
justice, system’s approach to
justice has some important strengths. Yet there
is also a
growing acknowledgment of this system’s limits and failures.
Victims, offenders, and community members often feel that
justice does not
adequately meet their needs. Justice
professionals—judges, lawyers,
prosecutors, probation and
parole officers, prison staff—frequently express a
sense of
frustration as well. Many feel that the process of justice
deepens
societal wounds and conflicts rather than
contributing to healing or
peace.
Restorative justice is an attempt to address some of these
needs and
limitations. Since the 1970s, a variety of
programs and approaches have emerged
in thousands of
communities and many countries throughout the world. Often
these are offered as choices within or alongside the
existing legal system.
Starting in 1989, however, New
Zealand has made restorative justice the hub of
its entire
juvenile justice system.
In many places today, restorative
justice is considered a
sign of hope and the direction of the future. Whether
it
will live up to this promise remains to be seen.
Restorative justice
began as an effort to deal with burglary
and other property crimes that are
usually viewed (often
incorrectly) as relatively minor offenses. Today,
however,
restorative approaches are available in some communities for
the most
severe forms of criminal violence: death from
drunken driving, assault, rape,
even murder. Building upon
the experience of the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission in
South Africa, efforts are also being made to apply a
restorative
justice framework to situations of mass
violence.